This is an aerial view of Forest Lawn, located at 7909 Mormon Bridge Road. In the upper left hand corner is the main entrance; on the middle right hand side of the picture, right at the edge of the photo, is the old main entrance. You can see the location on Google Maps

For many years, both of these gates were open all day, which meant you could drive right through the cemetery, going from 52nd Street to 30th Street in a mere minute. I used to drive through it every day on my way to and from work, and was quite upset when they closed the old entrance for good. These days it is opened only on Memorial Day. The old office building also sits by this entrance, and you can see several good pictures of this building when it was the only structure for miles around, on the Forest Lawn site. The building was offered free to anyone who wanted to move it in 2010, when the cemetery decided they didn't need it anymore. The only catch in this is that it was estimated that to move the house would cost about $100,000. As of 2012 no one had taken them up on the offer.

Forest Lawn was founded in May of 1885. The very first burial was one of the new Forest Lawn board members, John Brackin, who died in September 1886. Complete records are on microfilm at the Nebraska State Historical Society (in Lincoln) and the Omaha Public Library Main Branch, as well as at the cemetery and on the cemetery's website. It is managed by a lot owners association.